Dance of the Phoenix Episode 25 Recap
> Dance of the Phoenix Recap
Taking advantage of everyone's absence at Baiding Mountain, Holy Queen Gao moved swiftly to seize power. She and Lord Demon led the Darknight Court forces directly to Junwu Divine Hall. Although the Holy Sovereign attempted to resist, his loyalists had already been corrupted, and his spiritual power, only recently recovered, was no match for Lord Demon. He sustained injuries and was subsequently imprisoned.
Holy Queen Gao taunted the Holy Sovereign, saying he had been negligent in governing and had long lost the support of his people, rendering him truly alone. The Holy Sovereign realized they had been colluding all along. Lord Demon then declared the Holy Sovereign's era over, asserting there was no longer a place for him on Qianyuan Continent.
The Holy Sovereign expressed hope that the Crown Prince would thwart their plans, but Lord Demon dismissed this, stating that the Crown Prince himself was in too much peril to offer any help. A subordinate congratulated Holy Queen Gao on finally unifying Qianyuan Continent. On Baiding Mountain, Feng Xun and Xuan Yi, with Xuan Yi carrying the unconscious Zhao Ge, attempted to escape with Feng Wu.
At the mountain pass, Jun Linyuan and Yu Mingye were locked in a fierce battle. Meanwhile, Darknight Court forces had already set up an explosive energy barrier. This barrier was initially intended for Feng Wu, but as the enraged Demon Wolf rampaged, the Darknight Court planned to use it to gravely injure her. Feng Xun, observing the Demon Wolf's immense power, urged Feng Wu not to hesitate, noting the wolf had fully demonized and they were no match for her.
He insisted they meet Jun Linyuan down the mountain to avoid unimaginable consequences if the Demon Wolf descended. Yu Mingye's subordinates urged him to detonate the barrier to prevent further casualties, but he hesitated, knowing his own people were still inside. Jun Linyuan and the others tried to pull Feng Wu away from the imminent blast.
However, Feng Wu, recalling the Demon Wolf's tender moments with her cubs, insisted it was not the Demon Wolf's fault and rushed back into the explosive barrier to save her. Both Jun Linyuan and Yu Mingye desperately tried to stop the detonation, but it was too late. The Demon Wolf, saved by Feng Wu, pounced on her, but was enveloped in a white light that transported her memories back twenty years.
She recalled Mu Jiuzhou sealing most of her spiritual power, granting her freedom in exchange, and allowing her twenty years to bear her child. He foretold that twenty years later, her great tribulation would come, offering her a choice: kill that person to become a demon again, or let go of her hatred and accept her fate. In that moment, the Demon Wolf finally understood the nature of her tribulation.
At the last moment, she refrained from delivering a fatal blow, only leaving Feng Wu injured and unconscious. Just as they survived the Demon Wolf's attack, Zuo Qingluan arrived with her forces, surrounding them. She falsely claimed to be acting on the Holy Sovereign's orders to arrest Jun Linyuan, Feng Wu, Feng Xun, and Xuan Yi.
The accusations included a previous failed attempt to poison the Holy Sovereign and current collusion with the Demon Wolf to bring disaster to the capital. Feng Xun vehemently denied these baseless charges, questioning how Jun Linyuan, the Holy Sovereign's own son, could ever harm him, and accusing Zuo Qingluan of twisting the truth and siding with the sinister Darknight Court.
Zuo Qingluan asserted the collusion was a fact, crediting the Darknight Court with severely injuring the demon, and told them they could defend themselves before the Holy Sovereign. Jun Linyuan insisted Feng Wu stay with him, but Zuo Qingluan seized Feng Wu's Dragon Phoenix Spirit Ring, declaring it evidence of her collusion with demons and threatening any who interfered with war against the Junwu Clan, Celestial Palace, and Darknight Court.
Mu Yao, Zuo Qingluan's junior sister, confronted her, expressing disbelief at her actions, especially her alliance with the Darknight Court. Zuo Qingluan dismissed her, instructing her to return to Celestial Palace and stay out of the capital's affairs. Meanwhile, the now conscious Zhao Ge, who had been taken for treatment, also confronted Zuo Qingluan, revealing that Zuo Qingluan had deliberately tricked her into luring Feng Wu to Baiding Mountain and questioning if it was out of jealousy.
Zhao Ge refused to leave, reminding Zuo Qingluan that Feng Wu had offered her warmth after she was banished from Celestial Palace, and Xuan Yi had helped her when she was bullied. Zhao Ge declared that she had long lost her home, and her friends were her family, whom she would never abandon. She warned Zuo Qingluan that if she continued to oppose Feng Wu and harm their friends, their bond would be severed.
Zuo Qingluan, implying that life was paramount and people change, had Zhao Ge taken to the Celestial Prison. Jun Linyuan, Feng Xun, and Xuan Yi were also confined there, unable to use their spiritual powers. Feng Xun regretted not resisting, but Xuan Yi reminded him of the Darknight Court's overwhelming strength.
Holy Queen Gao, to solidify her control, gave orders for Feng Wu to be executed that night at the Sky-reaching Terrace by the Bone-eroding Thunder, fearing complications if she delayed. Meanwhile, the Demon Wolf had torn off her own claw to escape, and the Queen ordered her recapture, instructing that the wolf be kept alive as a future cultivation tool for Zuo Qingluan.
Knowing that Jun Linyuan, as the Crown Prince, could not be directly eliminated without public outcry, Holy Queen Gao summoned him from the Celestial Prison. Feigning maternal concern, she offered him dishes she supposedly cooked and began to manipulate him. Jun Linyuan saw through her pretense, asking about the Holy Sovereign's whereabouts.
Holy Queen Gao then revealed her past with Mu Jiuzhou, admitting she was the cause of his demise during his ascension, driven by her obsessive love for him and her hatred for his devotion to cultivation. She confessed that if she couldn't have him, she would destroy him and everything he protected. Jun Linyuan denounced her as a hypocrite undeserving of speaking of love, solely driven by power.
Feigning regret, Holy Queen Gao then offered him the rule of Qianyuan Continent. Jun Linyuan retorted that she merely sought a puppet to legitimize her unlawful ascent to power. He then defiantly summoned his Heaven Slaying Sword and pointed it at her. Before he could act, Gao Wei rushed in. Jun Linyuan escaped through a window, but his act was immediately twisted by Holy Queen Gao into an accusation of "colluding with demons and attempting matricide."
She publicly declared him an enemy to all, to be killed on sight. Jun Linyuan, having escaped, immediately headed to the Sky-reaching Terrace to find Feng Wu, who had regained consciousness but was extremely weak. Yu Mingye, watching Feng Wu's impending execution alongside Lord Demon, was visibly distraught. He finally broke years of silence, calling Lord Demon "Father" and pleading for Feng Wu's life, confessing she was the only woman he loved.
Lord Demon noted that Yu Mingye had not called him "Father" since he was ordered to kill someone, and now he used the term to save a life. However, Lord Demon stated it was too late, as the five types of lightning had converged for the Bone-eroding Thunder. In the Celestial Prison, Feng Xun, Xuan Yi, and Zhao Ge were desperate to help.
A guard named Huang Li arrived, revealing Zuo Qingluan's collusion with Holy Queen Gao and the execution plan. Expressing remorse for not protecting Zhao Ge from past bullying, Huang Li helped them escape. Meanwhile, at the Sky-reaching Terrace, Yu Mingye, losing all reason, defied Lord Demon and rushed towards the execution site, declaring he could not watch the girl he loved die and would save her even if it meant opposing his father and the entire Darknight Court. He fought valiantly against the Bone-eroding Thunder, repeatedly falling and rising, until he made one last desperate push, sacrificing his right arm, which was severed by the lightning.
